China, Burma Failing to Stop ‘Bride’ Trafficking

China, Burma Failing to Stop ‘Bride’ Trafficking
Refugee women with children gather in their refugee camp in Myitkyina, Kachin state, northern Burma on Feb. 22, 2012. Khin Maung Win/AP
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BANGKOK—Authorities in China and Burma are failing to stop the brutal trafficking of young women, often teenagers, from the conflict-ridden Kachin region for sexual slavery, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.

The report released on March 21 says women are often tricked into traveling to China in search of work or kidnapped and held against their will to be sold as “brides” for Chinese men. Most of those taken hostage by Chinese families are locked up and raped, it says. Those who do escape are often obliged to leave children fathered by Chinese men behind.